Ethan Hawke in the Spierig brothers' Predestination. Shot in Melbourne in 2013, the film will open the 2014 Melbourne International Film Festival. Photo: Pinnacle Films

Shot on location in Victoria and at Docklands Studios Melbourne in April and May 2013, the feature from Brisbane brothers Peter and Michael Spierig stars Ethan Hawke as a time-travelling agent sent on a mission by his boss, played by Game of Thrones' Noah Taylor.

Michelle Carey, artistic director of MIFF, was ''completely captivated by this stylish mind-bender of a film'', destined to be ''a sure-fire conversation starter at the after-party''.

Speaking from Los Angeles, where he and his brother are in the planning stages of their next projects, Peter Spierig said there was a certain symmetry to the film making its Australian debut in Melbourne.

''We have history with MIFF,'' he said. ''Our first feature, Undead, won a prize there in 2003 and most of our crew are from Melbourne, so it makes a lot of sense. And any excuse to come back to Melbourne is fine by me.''

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The Spierig brothers have made their mark with genre films in the horror area. Undead was a zombie film, Daybreakers (2009) – made on the Gold Coast with Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill in the leads – a vampire film.

Predestination represents a change of direction. ''The only zombies in it are metaphorical,'' says Spierig.

''For Michael and I, this is our favourite thing we've done so far. I'm really proud of the performances, I'm really proud of the story, the nature and complexity of it. It's a really solid piece of work.''

Will people expecting a ''Spierig brothers film'' be surprised?

''That's very possible,'' he says. ''There's little to no blood.''

MIFF runs from July 31 to August 17. Opening night tickets on sale on May 15. The full program will be announced on July 8, with tickets on sale July 11.